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SUMMARY:Spinoza on law and sovereignty - Susan James (Birkbeck\, Universit
 y of London)
DTSTART:20071122T163000Z
DTEND:20071122T180000Z
UID:TALK8196@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lauren Kassell
DESCRIPTION:There's a moment in the history of early modern philosophy whe
 n the idea that humans are subject to the commands of God is challenged an
 d rejected. Can we locate it? Perhaps the earliest philosopher who wholehe
 artedly gives up this orthodox view is Benedict Spinoza. In this paper I e
 xamine Spinoza's wide-ranging argument for his claim that all laws\, in th
 e sense of commands\, are made and imposed by human beings rather than by 
 the deity. I show how he defends this conclusion by embedding it in his wi
 der metaphysics and politics. I go on to examine some consequences of this
  move\, concentrating on the instabilities it produces in Spinoza's distin
 ction between reason and imagination.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, History and Philosophy of Science\, Department o
 f
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